Like The Hand of a Woman
by Platinum Preta
Summary: Commissioned Fic. Masrur returns to Sindria from a trip with the King to find Morgiana has been taking reading and writing lessons from Ja'far. What started out as a simple break from her studies turned into something a little more... steamy. Mas/Mor, gets limey.


_This is part one of two commissions for Tumblr user massrur, who has been wonderfully patient with the fics she has commissioned. The pairing is Masrur/Morgiana, and was a very refreshing challenge for me. The rest of my commissioned fics will be posted here as well. I hope you enjoy._

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Opportunities to leave the Sindrian palace to accompany Sinbad as an escort for political or personal matters were ones that Masrur both appreciated and treasured. With the powers that be preventing the esteemed King from ever stepping foot in another dungeon again, these chances were as close as Sinbad and his comrades could really get to going on an 'adventure' these days. They were reminders of days that had long passed, and days that Masrur found himself yearning for as he spent his days either training or relaxing in Sindria's forests. He didn't regret a single day that lead him to where he was now, but he had become quite accustomed to living a nomadic lifestyle with a reckless explorer in his youth and his companions.; staying idle on one tiny island in comparison to the rest of the world can sometimes be tiring.

A month and a half had passed since Masrur and Spartos departed Sindria with Sinbad to tend to some business in the ally country of Sasan, but they had made it back safe and sound and were welcomed back by a large crowd of citizens that had waited anxiously for their King's return. Knowing that neither Masrur or Spartos were the most sociable people in the world, he told the pair that they were free to go ahead of him to return to the palace if they wished and inform Ja'far of his return. As he often did, Sinbad had left the matters of the country in the freckled man's hands while he was away. Responding with a firm nod, Masrur and Spartos made their way past the vast amount of people as quickly as they could to make their way back.

There was a slight change in the Fanalis' pace after that, a stride that had him going two steps ahead of the younger general whose armor clattered loudly with each hindered step. Spartos only asked once for Masrur to slow down, but it was a request that went unnoticed; he had additional priorities than just the one Sinbad had given him.

After a six month journey to the Dark Continent, Morgiana returned to Sindria ahead of both Aladdin and Alibaba right before Masrur had to leave for Sasan. She was surprised to see that neither of them had returned yet, but Masrur told her to remain patient and continue training on her own until he came back. Their reunion as teacher and student was brief and unfulfilling for both of them, and it set the beginning of his voyage on a sour note. He was only left to hope her headstrong behavior wouldn't have her running off to go find them before he returned.

As much as he wanted to go looking for her first, he still had to tend to Sinbad's order first and made his way to the White Aries Tower. Masrur knocked upon the door to Ja'far's office, the heavy thud of his rough knuckles making his presence unmistakably known to whoever was inside. There were a few impressions upon the polished wood grain from previous attempts at knocking that were handled a little carelessly on the Fanalis' part, but the man who had started to become famous for apparently being able to 'spit fire' and have one of the shortest tempers was surprisingly understanding and dismissed them with a wave of his hand and a gentle warning to be more careful next time. Masrur never forgot to count his blessings for being so lucky for an old friend's compassion when he had personally witnessed Ja'far tearing the other generals to pieces to even smaller misdeeds in the past.

A crimson brow rose slowly upon the man's brow when he didn't receive Ja'far's usual invitation to step inside when he could clearly hear the sound of shuffling parchment and the gentle scratch of an ink-drenched quill on paper. Taking a gamble and assuming Ja'far was simply so engrossed in whatever he was doing (but really, someone would have to be in a _coma _to ignore a thundering knock from a Fanalis) and opened the door to step inside.

The scribbling noise quickly came to a stop as Masrur's gaze fell upon the small frame of Morgiana sitting at the chancellor's desk with a damaged quill grasped in her hand and scarlet eyes slightly widened in surprise. What's more, Ja'far was nowhere to be found.

"You're back." the young girl spoke as the smallest of smiles graced her face. It seemed almost sheepish, like she knew that she probably shouldn't be here.

"I am." Masrur replied with a nod as he released his grip on the door to let it close behind him. "It's good to see that you are still here."

Morgiana's smile was soon replaced with a questioning look. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I thought you'd have run off to find your friends by now." That had been one of Masrur's biggest concerns during the entire trip. He didn't doubt that she was properly equipped to take care of herself, but he didn't like the idea of Morgiana attempting to go to Laem to find Alibaba more than anything else. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if something had happened to her there while he was away.

"… I wanted to," she admitted as her eyes drifted away from the older Fanalis to the window where sandy curtains billowed in the gentle breeze that filtered through the room. "A few times. But Ja'far said they would be back soon." The underlying anxiety despite the consolation she had been given showed just how much good Ja'far's attempts to keep her out of the every-growing conflict between Laem and Magnoshushatt were fairing. Despite that she was still here, and that was enough to make the general let out a small exhale through his nostrils of relief as he folded his arms at his chest.

"Why are you sitting at his desk?" Masrur would have expected the older general to go livid if he caught someone sitting at his desk like she was.

"He let me sit here. But he was called away a while ago." Morgiana placed the broken feathered quill haphazardly on the desk to pick up the small stack of a few sheets of paper in front of her, holding them up for Masrur to see. Questioning eyes peering just over the top of the paper and silently asked for the man's opinion or approval of the messy scrawl of words written on it. She didn't really know what to expect in response, since it didn't take a scholar to see that her penmanship left a lot to be desired. Unfortunately the distant look in her teacher's eyes was more than enough to tell her that he really didn't know what he was looking at.

Deflating almost instantly, Morgiana's cheeks flushed with embarrassment and swelled with air as she roughly slammed the paper back down on the desk, making it along with everything on it's surface rattle from the force of impact. At least she didn't do it so hard that she didn't destroy it with that intense strength of hers.

"It's not… that bad?" he offered, the corner of his lip twitching with the smallest hint of a grin that rarely ever breached his stony face. It sort of happened without thinking, because while most would have been frightened by such a powerful outburst he happened to find it somewhat endearing. In fact, there was more than one occasion when her quirky behavior momentarily softened his hardened demeanor.

"It is." The girl pouted gruffly, glaring daggers down at the paper like she had every intention to set it on fire without lifting a finger. Unfolding his arms, Masrur lumbered over to the desk to grab one of the sheets and take a closer, better look at it.

"Ja'far's been teaching you to write?"

"And read. Since you left." So she's been at this for quite some time, it seemed. Masrur looked away from the paper to take another look at the desk, and he came to find that there was not just one but also quite a number of broken quills littered amongst the sea of parchment. They were a telltale sign of how much time she had been investing into learning both how to write and hold a quill gently without making it shatter with her iron grip. The General was taken back to when Ja'far had tried to teach him how to read and write as well, and how he used to go through at least a dozen quills on a good day.

_Don't grip it like a sword,_ he had said, carefully taking the Fanalis boy's hand and curling his fingers gently around the pen. _Hold the quill like you would the hand of a woman._

Giving his nod of approval, Masrur gently tapped a corner of the paper on the crown of Morgiana's head to make her look up at him. "You're a lot farther than I was when he taught me." He hoped that she would at least take some solace in knowing she wasn't the only one who had trouble with it.

Scarlet eyes lit up with newfound hope as she reached up to take it back, giving the older man an appreciative nod. There was a hidden sort of self-fulfillment buried within her gaze, something that caught Masrur's interest. He had instructed her to continue her combat training while he was away, and he trusted that she had remained diligent to do so. Still, why did she choose to take on such a difficult task seemingly out of the blue?

"Why did you suddenly decide to learn these things?" Masrur asked, watching as that fleeting glance of pride flutter away just as quietly as it had come from her eyes. She almost seemed surprised that he had asked such a question.

After laying the paper back on the desk, the girl's hands slid into her lap. "What if there wasn't one?"

"You shouldn't lie to your teacher."

"How am I lying?" There was a falter in the tone of her voice, one indicating that he had stepped upon some sort of hidden nerve that she didn't wish to discuss. The thought that Morgiana would hide something from him didn't sit very well in the Fanalis' stomach and in truth, almost pained him. Wasn't their relationship, their bond much more powerful than that of a master and a student? Of course Sharrkan and Yamuraiha were quite close and even a little protective over their own prodigies, but what Masrur and Morgiana had was something that went even deeper- a camaraderie in blood, a mutual understanding for each other that only another Fanalis could truly understand. If Morgiana thought that she could get away with such a lie, she was sadly mistaken.

Masrur circled around the desk to stand beside the chair, kneeling down on one knee so as to not tower over her and give her the impression that he was angry or scolding her. Morgiana's hands clenched tighter in her lap, watching his every move.

"You don't do things without reason," the Fanalis man answered simply, "I only asked you to continue your training. You chose to take these lessons without my say so." At that, Morgiana stared at the man kneeling before her for several moments before she let out a small, frustrated sigh. Even she knew at this point it wasn't worth keeping her problems to herself.

"It's for my friends." She leaned back a little in the chair, avoiding the other's gaze. "I want to have accomplished something of equal worth when they come back."

_Of equal worth? _

Words like that insinuated that she felt as though she hadn't already achieved incredible feats. It subconsciously placed herself below Aladdin and Alibaba, voicing fears that she wasn't good enough. It was, as much as Masrur hated to even think about it, the same old thought process of that of a slave.

She could do so much better. Her potential exceeded even farther than Alibaba's in the General's own eyes, and time and time again he had tried to get her to see that as well. Morgiana was a fine example of a Fanalis woman with a strong heart, and to see her strive to be on par with such a fickle prince with a weak constitution was almost too much to bear. By the same token, he could easily see why she would feel so insignificant beside the young Magi Aladdin, but that was something that couldn't be helped. She excelled in her own way in life… how could she not see that? What would it take for him to show her that she is already of worthy value to someone? To _him_?

Masrur wasn't really the kind of man to talk about feelings. He preferred to act, a more primal way of getting his point across, as in all of the Fanalis' nature; Act first, think later. Although… this time, he probably should have taken a moment to think about how to respond.

A hand reached out to grasp Morgiana's face in the palm of his large hand, forcing her to look back at him as he leaned forward to press a kiss to her lips. The girl made a noise of surprise as her eyes grew wide, but she surprisingly didn't pull away. She wasn't like any other woman, she was a Fanalis just like him and could easily pull out of his grasp if she wanted to. She almost seemed shy in the way she returned the gesture, being a girl with little experience with such contact. But in truth, that was really all that Masrur needed.

He pulled away only for a moment to allow them both to breathe, his eyes scanning over her own somewhat dreamy expression as her lips parted slightly to take the breath she had been given, and that was really all he could bear before he was diving back in for a second, more heated kiss. Catching her lips while they were still slightly agape, the piercing just beneath his own lips caught and dragged down Morgiana's as he prodded her with his tongue, only to let it slide through the gap without waiting for confirmation. Luckily she seemed willing, albeit a tad nervous as she allowed it and let her tongue meet his, her arms slowly wrapping around his neck.

The chair screeched as it was pushed off to the side from an impatient shove from the side of Masrur's leg as he lifted Morgiana from her waist and sat her down upon the desk in order to maintain each kiss at a more comfortable angle. He could hear the shuffling of the paper beneath her and the scrolls toppling onto the floor, but he didn't have the time nor will to care as he leaned in for a third and even deeper kiss, his hand cupping the back of Morgiana's head in order to keep her there.

There was an overwhelming sense of relief and freedom with her that he had never had the chance to experience with another woman, and that was the freedom to not have to worry about his strength crushing or hurting her amid the throes of passion. She was a Fanalis, and as such she could easily tolerate and even inflict the same bruising kisses and crushing grip as he. There was no need to be gentle, for he could truly be himself in every way.

Morgiana's arms tightened their hold around his neck, the wet noises of lips and tongues clashing nearly drowning out other disturbances as heightened senses of smell, touch and taste were consumed by each other. The General met this action by pulling her in by the waist as well, forcing her smaller legs to part as his broad frame settled between them. He felt her shutter in his grip, her focus on the kiss faltering from the cool metal of his golden colored armor pressing up against her undressed sex. This sudden reminder that she indeed wore no sort of undergarments made a spark ignite within him that ran up his spine and right back down to pool within his own groin.

At last when they both pulled away for air, Masrur pushed Morgiana down by the shoulder to make her lay back upon the desk, her hair falling over the edge as he loomed over her small, panting frame. This vision laid out before him was one he had only seen in his dreams, and made a low rumble of satisfaction vibrate in his throat as he leaned down to press open-mouthed kisses across her exposed collarbone. Hands dared to wander down to her hips, guiding her legs around his waist and making the fabric of her dress tumble downwards to pool at her own. Morgiana's own hands daftly grasped at his chest and shoulders, her hands sliding across his armor and finding no relief for a burning itch to touch him as well. As wonderful as it might have been to feel her hands on his chest, this was more about making Morgiana feel treasured and worthy as she so desperately wished than serving his own needs.

The shaky, breathy sigh that left Morgiana's lips as he tugged down the front of her dress to trail those eager kisses down her sternum was a noise that both brought him relief and set him on fire within at the same time as her fingers caressed his short red locks. She was normally just as silent as he, so any sort of sound from her lips was worth treasuring. Despite how small her breasts were, the large gap between them was enough to fit his chin between them and wish to bury his face into such warmth for as long as he possibly could. He loved large breasts as much as the next man, but Morgiana's smaller chest suited her perfectly.

And then he heard it; the nearly silent pitter-patter of feet traversing outside that could easily be mistaken as the shuffle of a gentle breeze. Lips that had parted to allow his tongue to slide between the girl's cleavage suddenly halted, hooded eyes opening as he abruptly stood up and quickly grabbed Morgiana by the arm and jerked her off of the writing desk as she made a confused noise.

"What-?" Morgiana breathed as she readjusted her clothing.

"He's coming." Masrur replied sternly as he tried to fix the utter disarray their fitful encounter had left the chancellor's desk in. Morgiana didn't even have the chance to ask what he meant before Ja'far opened the door to the office, pale brows creasing upon his forehead from being stuck between looking at the mess of his desk and the two Fanalis looking out of sorts as they tried to fix it.

"What happened here?" was the first question out of his mouth, his voice laced with harshness. Ja'far took the handling of his paperwork very seriously, so to see scrolls littering the floor and papers all out of place was enough to make the man go mad with fury. The fact he was asking about the mess before even questioning why Masrur was suddenly here didn't help matters either. Morgiana peered out of the corner of her eye to Masrur, hoping he would have some sort of explanation.

"I bumped into the desk." Masrur countered without missing a beat, placing the last of the scrolls back on the desk. "It was an accident." The brief pause that hung in the air was broken by a 'hm' of acknowledgement on Ja'far's part, who seemed to take the Fanalis by his word.

"Please be more careful next time." Ja'far seemed to be in some sort of hurry as he approached the desk himself, gathering a few of the scrolls in the crook of his arm. "I am relieved to see that you and Sinbad returned safely. If you would please follow me, I would like to hear a summary of what happened during your trip so I may take note of any significant changes."

Masrur's expression remained calm and unchanging, but Morgiana didn't look very happy about Ja'far's request as she sat back down a little too quickly. Noting the displeasure hanging in the air, Ja'far gave Masrur a wary look.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, to which he only received Masrur shaking his head in response. "Good, then please follow me. Morgiana, I will come back later and check your progress. Keep up the good work."

Talk about a major cockblock. Masrur kept his distain to himself as he exited with the smaller advisor, only paying just enough attention to his rambling to get the basic idea of what he was talking about (even if some of it kind of went over his head.) The primary focus of the Fanalis man's attention was a certain smell that clung to him even after he had left Morgiana's presence. Narrowing down the source, he glanced down to notice a small, clear smudge across the front of his armor.

_Morgiana's essence_. It must have gotten there from when he wrapped her legs around his waist. The thought made his mouth run dry as he carefully brushed a fingertip over it, taking a moment to make sure Ja'far was just a pace or two ahead of him before he brought it to his lips.

Dear Solomon, her taste sent his taste buds buzzing like none other. It also gave him some semblance of solace, knowing she in that very moment wanted him just as bad as he wanted her.

It was an action he did in that moment to simply show Morgiana her worth, but now it was about much more than that. Maybe not today, but soon enough, Masrur would make her his.


End file.
